Absent Reality
by DiscordantHarmony426
Summary: An alternate canon in which SCP-239 is treated slightly better than in our dimension.


**ACT I: The Kópavogur Incident**

Ah, Iceland. A Nordic island country with approximately 320,000 people. Taking in the majesty of this otherworldly country is an experience one would never forget. But, for the people of Kópavogur, they still remember a bizarre incident that happened eight years ago…

Kópavogur, Iceland  
Date: Circa 2000  
ETI (Estimated Time of Incident): 9:37 GMT

It took place in a hospital whose name has been forgotten by the sands of time. All was initially well, all the Icelanders enjoying the benefits of free healthcare, albeit somewhat functional…a new Icelandic couple is expecting their first child, a baby girl, in fact. We'll skip the graphic details…

"Hún er falleg, Frú."

"Hvað ættum við að heita henni, elskan?"

"Ég held ég hafi hið fullkomna nafn, hvernig væri um Sigurrós?"

"Sigurrós…en yndislegt nafn."

After filling out the necessary paperwork, the doctor puts Sigurrós in a bassinet. They then come back and check on Sigurrós' mother to make sure that everything went well. And now we get to the incident. At precisely 2 hours and 49 minutes after Sigurrós' birth, her parents arrive at the room she's being kept in to check up on her.

"Sigurrós, langar að leika við mig?"

Sigurrós starts giggling and smiles back at her mom. She is beaming an illustrious hue of yellow. Where have we seen this before?

"Ég held að hún ætti ekki að vera glóandi svona…"

Suddenly a deafening explosion shatters the silence of the Icelandic night, nearby buildings' windows were rattled by the aftershock. Icelanders begin to fly into hysterics! At the hospital, the entire building was destroyed and is now a ruinous husk of its former self. All 584 other people in hospital were killed in the explosion!

* * *

Enter the SCP Foundation. Word of the explosion traveled fast and several teams were dispatched to investigate the source of the explosion. It could be an anomalous entity. You see, the SCP Foundation (as well as other GOI's) are aware of these anomalies. If a normal person sees this weirdness happening in our world, it would open the floodgates for conspiracy theorists the world over. The X-Files would be happening in real life and nothing would ever be the same again! To prevent mass hysteria, the Foundation keeps them locked up within their many facilities in case any prying eyes try to catch a glimpse of these oddities. Opposing them are Chaos Insurgency (which just fucks things up for everyone, the UNGOC classifies them as a "paranormal terrorist group") and the Wanderer's Library (and their agents, the Serpent's Hand) which wants to prove the conspiracy theorists right and show them the true weirdness of our world and expose all of these anomalies to the public! They get to the site of the former hospital.

"God, what the fuck caused this?"

"We need to see if there's anyone alive in here."

"Are you kidding? This hospital got fucking obliterated! We must be dealing with a super powerful Keter class anomaly!"

"Let's just hurry up, the UNGOC has to have gotten word of this by now…"

The agents manage to find the lone survivor.

"What the…? How the fuck did a baby survive the blast? It killed everyone else!"

"It doesn't matter, we found one."

"Maybe the baby's the anomaly, no way would a normal baby survive that."

"Look over here, the charred remains of this label still say that the baby's name is Sigurrós Stefánsdóttir."

"You don't think…"

The agent scans the infant. Readings are 120/0/239, way higher than a normal human. A normal human is about 30/0/0.

"Shit. A reality warper."

"Well, now we _have _to take her with us. We all are aware of what the UNGOC does to "Type-Greens…""

* * *

In an alternate reality where the United Nations Global Occult Coalition found the child first…

"UTE-3530-Green has not yet been identified…"

"Wait, there's a survivor."

The agents approach the child.

"Hey, we're going to get you out of here…."

It cries, causing the ruins of the hospital to start slowly filling up with water.

"Shit…identity of KTE-3530-Green confirmed, commencing liquidation."

"What the fuck are you doing, man?! That's a baby!"

"No, it's a weapon of mass destruction, now shoot it with us or you'll be liquified next."

The PHYSIC team lights up the parathreat with a maelstrom of bullets.

"3530-Green confirmed liquified, Iceland is safe for another day."

The PHYSIC team cleans up the parathreat's mess, issues a government mandated cover story and is on their merry way, and no one was charged in the murder and summary execution of a baby, but it was to save the human race, so we're allowed to breach our own laws on committing crimes against humanity! The United Nations, everybody…

Anyways…back in this reality, the SCP Foundation manages to extract the entity and get it transferred to one of their clandestine sites. They told the Icelandic press that the hospital was blown up by a geothermal gas explosion when the generator in the boiler room exploded.

8 years have passed since that day…

* * *

**ACT II: A Solid Foundation**

"Well, doctor. I see that you have some room freed up."

"No, there are still 36 confirmed projects going on simultaneously."

"Well, seeing as you've been able to handle thirty-six at once, high command is assigning you to yet another project, say hello to number thirty-seven!"

"Which one is it?"

"#239."

"SCP-239? Well, I've tackled my fair share of Keter class entities, so this one shouldn't be too much of a hassle."

"Just remember, doctor. The fire was always burning…"

"Since the world's been turning."

"Gee, and I thought you couldn't feel anything. Ah well, at least you have good taste in music."

* * *

We rejoin our protagonist at the SCP Foundation's Site-17. Gosh, it must be so polarizing being a Keter class entity surrounded by mostly Safe and Euclid classes…the Foundation has already itemized her as if she was a product on Amazon, waiting to be sold (Oh wait, this world already has MC&D for that…). Anyways…here's her very own placard.

SCP-239  
Sigurrós  
Class: Keter  
Threat level: Orange  
Special properties: Reality warper

Despite this, she sees to be adjusting to Foundation life very well, though when it's all you ever known, that's not exactly anything noteworthy. She mostly bides her time creating items to help alleviate her boredom and occasionally food when she gets tired of the prison food the cafeteria serves. Though she never told the staff whether or not her food tasted coarse, rough or got everywhere, but I suppose that really doesn't matter, now does it? And yet, it feels like she's missing something, what could it be? She can literally create anything she can think of, so what could it be…?

"Sorry to interrupt your existentialism, SCP-239, but I must be allowed to conduct some routine tests on you."

Sigurrós snaps back to our reality and sees a balding, middle aged scientist at the entrance to her cell. The mitochondrion of the SCP Foundation and one of its core personnel.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, SCP-239; I am Dr Gears, head researcher of the SCP Foundation. Now shall we begin the experiment?"

"Sorry, even though it's been eight years, it's still weird being called by a number instead of my actual name."

"Do you want to be called Sigurrós instead of 239, Ms. Stefánsdóttir?"

"Uh, call me whichever one you prefer?"

Dr Gears writes something on a piece of paper attached to a clipboard.

"Right, you are a reality warper, so maybe you can help solve a dispute between two of my coworkers. See, one of my colleagues has acquired a particular set of skills concerning reality warpers. See, he was an ex-PHYSIC before coming here, and he's convinced that there's no possible way a reality warper can be good and stay good. My other colleague believes we can use reality warpers to contain threats beyond our capabilities. We're going to meet him now.

* * *

Dr Gears leads Sigurrós down a labyrinth of hallways before accessing a strange room. He inputs the security code, scans his level 5 keycard and enters an ethereal looking room.

"Hey, are you still in here?"

Suddenly a man in a strange purple lab coat appears. He looks very important, as Sigurrós notices the level 5 keycard the man has in his coat pocket.

"So, old friend, what do you need me for?"

"Remember that new RW-MTF you proposed to the O5 Council?"

"Ah yes, Omega-12, "Singularity". What about it?"

"I was wondering if you can help 239 here control her powers."

"And…?"

"Well, I'd be lying if I didn't come here to see if there's anything else about her that I can learn."

Dr Gears approaches Sigurrós and explains who this odd fellow is.

"Sigurrós, this is overseer Benjamin Sisson. The ultimate reality warper…we didn't see him because he was on a higher plane of reality than us. If anyone can teach you to control your powers, it would be him."

"And maybe, if everything works out. I can prove old Alto wrong…"

Ben notices Sigurrós' confused expression.

"Ah, don't worry about it, SCP-239. Anyways, let's have a fun sparring match so that you can burn off all that excess energy. I've seen this game on the internet that should be perfect to emulate."

* * *

He warps everyone to his higher reality safe zone and dons a knight's armor, materializing a sword in front of him. He also temporarily warps Sigurrós into a generic edgy anime villain mage-like character.

"I'm a knight, you're a mage, and now, we spar."

Megalomania blares in the distance.

Hexaflange!

Overseer Sisson strikes Sigurrós with 6 sword slashes, but…

The sword fucking broke when it struck her!

"Ok, ok! Battle over!"

Everything returns to normal.

"Well, I thought that acting out a video game would be nice, but it's kind of awkward if the character is immune…let me try some things."

Overseer Sisson tries subjecting her to all sorts of harm to see if she'd actually get harmed. Needless to say, she was immune to everything. Dr Gears will remember this.

"Well, this is almost Mary Sue-ish…uh. Oh well, I want to reenact a famous scene from a certain movie…"

Overseer Sisson throws a bar of gold at her…it just bounced off.

"Wow, just like in the movie! I have one more thing I want to try."

He throws a bar of SCP-148 at her arm, expecting it to bounce off just like the gold bar did.

"OW!"

"Wait, that actually hurt?!"

The experiment was concluded, and Sigurrós was rushed to the medical bay. It was just a sprain and minor bruising, so no major damage…

"How is it that 148 can hurt you, but nothing else can?"

"I don't know, science guy."

Dr Gears is annoyed that SCP-239 called him a "science guy", he deserves more accolades than that hack Bill Nye.

A sinister smile flashes behind a hallway.

"SCP-148, huh…your days are numbered, Type-Green…"

* * *

The two get pizza from 458 and a drink from 294. Unfortunately, what they had was redacted in the report for not being important enough to include…

"Well, this was an interesting day. I look forward to the next experiment."

Dr. Gears, in his haste to record some new data on the other thirty-six SCPs he's already assigned to, dropped some important files on he had with him. Sigurrós helps him pick up a few of the sheets and glances at one of them. Dr Gears noticeably has the "Oh, fuck" face when you just know something is going to go horribly wrong.

"SCP-106…"

Thankfully, Sigurrós doesn't care about all the science stuff, the only thing she's looking at is 106's object class, Keter.

"Gear man, why does the Mustard guy have the same object class as me?"

She shows him SCP-106's file.

"Because, we can't keep him in his cell. Not even 40 lead infused steel walls with a steel cube, along with 16 bubbles of various liquids, suspended by a maglev EM field, surrounded with high powered stadium lights can fully contain him. And, the only way to recall him is to used the screams of the damned."

"Did you try using ferrovanadium? I overheard some scientists talking about how it's corrosion resistant."

"He doesn't need to corrode it, he just needs to phase through it, but maybe…"

"You said he's attracted by screams? Don't you have an SCP that screams a lot?"

Dr Gears thinks of a certain one immediately.

"I have one in mind. Do you think you can create something to help me?"

"Maybe…"

"By the way 239, why did you call SCP-106 "the Mustard guy""?

"Oh, because a man with a ukulele said that all his skin melted off during the war because of mustard gas."

"I'm more concerned he told this to an 8-year-old girl. Anyways, If this works, you're a genius!"

Over the next few days, the two prepare for the most ambitious project since Infinity War. They arrive at a secure location and preparing for their plan.

* * *

"Ok, in that cube is our "helper". We need to bait this creature into screaming by looking at its face. We need something extremely durable and preferably with a high regenerative factor for maximum scream time. We need to do this because it will fly into a rampage and attack anything that saw it. We also need something to bag its face as a backup."

"Ok, I think I've got something for you to use…"

Sigurrós generates two avatars. One heavily armored humanoid and a faceless humanoid.

"Ok, this is 239-682-3 Iron Maiden and 239-4 Bagman. It should be obvious which one to use."

Dr Gears leads the two entities into its containment cell and instructs them on what to do. 239-682-3 will trigger it while 239-4 waits outside. A D-class will leave a tape recorder outside the cell to capture its screams. 239-682-3 looks at the emaciated, gangly looking blind mountain creature with 1.5-meter arms. Immediately, SCP-096 covers itself and begins autistically screaming while 239-682-3 dares the creature to kill it. Immediately, the creature jumps and starts beating it up while emitting those bloodcurdling screams. The tape recorder starts recording. 27 hours later, 096 gives up and 239-4 bags his head. Mission complete! 239-682-3 had its armor destroyed, but luckily it has 682 levels of regeneration! Dr Gears recovers the audio and saves several backups of it on his computer.

"Alright, we're done here."

"And your services are no longer required."

Sigurrós poofs the two avatars out of reality.

The two head back to Site-17 and Sigurrós returns to her cell, while Dr Gears works on his theorem…

* * *

**ACT III: Contr-Alto**

And now we are introduced to our hero. The one we don't need but the one we deserve. A humanoid with over 300 confirmed Type-Green kills and extensively trained in guerilla warfare. A former PHYSIC in the UNGOC, you know him, ladies are repulsed by him, the one, the only, Dr Alto Clef! You see, this…whatever Dr Clef is supposed to be is a high ranking "researcher" within the Foundation and he's quite infamous here, so of course, when a new reality warper is secured in the Foundation, he's extra suspicious. He knows about 239 and he's got a plan to deal with this powerful anomaly.

But, for now. We cut back to Sigurrós and her perspective on things. She's been doing quite well, making more of those things that she found out she was missing. She's also looking forward to the Gear man's next visit. You know, helping him seemed to give her a sort of purpose in this place. She's wondering how his theorem panned out, and as if on cue, the good doctor has come back for a progress report on their plan.

"I've managed to convince the staff to update 106's chamber. Hopefully, our updated recall system will work…"

He gets call from the fetid, dank depths of wherever 106's cell is.

"SCP-106 has breached containment!"

"Initiate the Throes of Madness recall system!"

"Yes, sir!"

They activate the recall system, screams are heard…

"Success, 106 has been mesmerized by the bubbles of liquid and we've fired the HID-SLS. 106 has retreated into the pocket dimension. We've got a few more days before he tries again."

He hangs up.

"Your plan has been considered a success. We've evacuated all the D-Class and reassigned them to different projects. Do you think you can help with any of these other 35 anomalies?"

Dr Gears gives her photos of the anomalies, along with their description.

"Let's see…can't do anything about this one, or this one, or this one…"

Sigurrós looks at the picture.

SCP-718  
Eyes that reproduce by neutralization, cognitohazardous

"So, these are Hyedras…maybe I can help with this one."

"Get a fireproof suit and take this next one with you."

Dr Gears finds and puts on a hazmat suit.

"Eh, close enough, I guess."

She creates another avatar. This one a woman, formed from blue and white fire.

"239-457-5 Tinderbox. She'll perform the "scorched Earth" tactic and turn all of those eyes to ash! Or you could try using another fire-based anomaly, if you have one."

"The one we have is uncooperative. I'll take your avatar to where 718 is located. Before I forget, here's something I had specially made for you. It will allow you access to the more restricted areas. I've already notified the Site-17 MTFs and security guards."

The two head off toward SCP-718's containment room. While they're busy incinerating these pests, a grizzled old man with an iridescent butterfly perched upon his shoulder appears.

* * *

"So, I heard that Cog has updated 106's containment chamber. He wouldn't shut up about how an SCP helped him with his new theorem. He never told anyone, but I figured it out. It's you, right, 239?"

Sigurrós says nothing to the stranger.

"The Sig Sauer P229. A gun arming law enforcement officers the world over. It's a fine firearm. Quite effective at deterring some would be criminal deviants. Of course, my sawed-off double barrel shotgun will be more than enough to send them a message."

"But enough about that. I heard that old rusted Gears say that a reality warper helped him. You see my partner here?"

He points to the butterfly.

"SCP-408 instance. These little guys can form a hive mind with each other and show hyper-realistic Illusions to ward off predators. They've seen me as their king. King of the Booterflies."

"King of the Booterflies?" Only one man can pronounce butterflies like that!

"Oh, you must be Dr Contract Me! The other staff members said that there was a grizzled old hermit that can weaponize butterflies. They said that this man was such a badass that he rode SCP-682 and lived! How could the legendary Contract Me ever need a lowly waif like me?"

"They all say that I'm the King of the Booterflies, but the only booterflies I can control are all SCP-408. That's where you come in."

"KONDRAKI. DON'T NEED OTHERS. JUST US. WE NEED YOU."

"I know, little guy."

"I think I know what you want me to do!"

Sigurrós blinks at Dr Kondraki.

"Ok, if it worked, go to a dank cave. There are some butterflies there. A researcher said that there are butterflies within Site-37. If they don't slice you to ribbons, then it worked. You might need 408 to help convince them."

"What exactly did you do, 239?"

"Gave you the ability to produce a super-strong butterfly specific pheromone. Any butterfly within the radius will be drawn to you, since they now see you as emperor of the butterflies! You can command legions of butterflies! Eclipse the sky with a massive swarm of them! Of course, that's only if it worked…"

Dr Kondraki leaves, eager to see if he can subjugate SCP-553 under his command! Well, Dr Gears and SCP-239-457-5 are still burning the eyes away, so she decides to explore Site-17 to curb her boredom. Dr Gears gave her a special level 4 access card for her role in upgrading 106's containment, these specific cards are made especially for SCPs. While Sigurrós doesn't buy this, she decides to take it with her anyway. Exploring the site and miraculously not getting shot by the guards, she eventually stumbles upon what looks to be a luxury prison cell. She notices that all the personnel in this area are female.

* * *

"Get lost, kid. This is a dangerous anomaly."

"What is so dangerous about it?"

"To us, nothing! To anything with an XY chromosome, it makes them go berserk!"

Sigurrós looks at the placard.

SCP-166  
Teenage Succubus  
Class: Euclid  
Threat level: Black  
Special Properties: Cognitohazard

…

Sigurrós turns to leave but hears a voice.

"Who is that?"

"Oh, it's just some girl."

"Really? Can I see her?"

…

The guard scans Sigurrós.

"Alright, you are a female who isn't transgender or has used SCP-113. You can visit 166."

The door opens and we see a room adorned with various Catholic religious items. Glancing at what appears to be SCP-166, Sigurrós sees a naked female humanoid. She speaks.

"Why have you come here?"

"I was just curious."

…

"And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned."

Is this supposed to be some divine allegory? Some sort of sanctimonious symbolism? Regardless, this meaning is lost on her. Being allowed to speak, Sigurrós askes her the questions she wants to know but that the higher reality beings skimming this chronicle already know about.

"Alright, I'll ask the obvious question first. Why are you naked?"

"Medical condition. I have a severe fomite allergy that makes painful skin ulcers form on me whenever it's been approximately 45 minutes after wearing any article of clothing."

"Ok, I see that you are a devotee of Catholicism, are you planning to join the clergy?"

"No, but I am studying to be an ordained minister."

"Alright, but what about your anomaly? Why is it so dangerous?"

"Getting half of the human population to gang rape you would cause more than enough destruction in this world."

"Ok, forget I asked that. What's in that cup?"

"Trust me kid, you do NOT want to know."

"What is your name?"

"It's Epon, but it's apparently too hard to pronounce, so most people just call me Eden instead."

"If that's all, I'll get back to my prayers."

"Wait, there's something odd that I noticed."

"What is it?"

"I've been trying to turn off your TV ever since we've been talking but it's still on. Have you felt anything?"

"No?"

"Weird, people usually feel something when I psychically poke them."

"I have had everything in the Empyrean blessed."

"Empyrean?"

"It's what I call my room. It's also what God's realm is called."

"Isn't that blasphemy?"

"No. Because it's a place, and God didn't say it was called that."

They spend the next few minutes getting acquainted with each other. Epon recited some bible passages to Sigurrós. She was so mesmerized with the faith that she said that if she ever converted that she would anoint her to be her minister. Epon appreciated the compliment and would promise to even start performing the sacraments on her and welcoming her as a sister to the religion if she so desired.

Sigurrós leaves, but has an eerie feeling that she'll be see more of Epon. Back at her cell, she's back just in time to hear Dr Gears' debriefing.

* * *

"Well, Sig…"

A Sig Sauer P229 manifests, drops onto the floor and discharges, hitting some poor researcher in the shoulder. He lets out a Wilhelm Scream and is rushed to the medical bay.

"I see you met Dr Kondraki. Anyways I am happy to report that even though the 86 instances of SCP-718 burst into more juveniles, SCP-239-457-5 was easily able to incinerate them before they fully matured. This baptism by fire of yours seemed to work. SCP-718 has been neutralized!"

"Wow, amazing job! Maybe we'll use your services again!"

Sigurrós dismisses SCP-239-457-5.

"Since you've been such a big help here, I'm making you an Honorary Junior Assistant Researcher. I'll be sure to note this in your file. And hey, if everything goes well, I may just convince the O5's to downgrade you to Euclid. And maybe Ben's plan will be crazy enough to work after all!"

"Oh, thanks! I've got something for you!"

Sigurrós hands him a yellow rose with white petals.

"Wow, what a pretty flower. You know, I have something for you too."

Dr Gears gives her a music box.

"You can create any song you like on that."

He leaves to write the report. But this is the SCP Foundation, there's no such thing as a "happy ending" here and even if there was it's esoteric at best. A sinister aura emanates from an unknown source and heads to Sigurrós' cell. It has a psionic resonance variance between 24-97. The last time a PsiRe reading was this high was during the Korean War when the Maoists crossed the Yalu river. Nukes should have fallen, WW3 should have broken out and we should all be dead right now, but we're not. The reading was about 200 back then. The next peak would be in September 15, 2015 where the reading was 100. Most of humanity is around 24. The point being, much like SCP-668, this thing emanates fear and or hatred and will impart it on our protagonist.

* * *

"Hello, 239."

"Oh, Ukulele man. What do you want?"

"I just wanted to meet the ingenue that contained a Keter class, and helped neutralize one. Thanks for that."

"You're welcome!"

"I still don't trust you."

"Huh?"

"You see, I am Dr Alto Clef, a former UNGOC operative."

"Isn't the UNGOC that group that kills any anomaly that they get their hands on?"

"Only if it becomes a parathreat, which is only 90% of the time."

"I'm not really comfortable…"

"You shouldn't be. Type-Greens like yourself are too dangerous to be kept alive. Furthermore, and to the point is that I hate all reality warpers."

"Aren't _you _a reality warper?"

"Like I said, I hate all reality warpers."

"But, I'm a big help to the Foundation!"

"You've been deceiving everyone. You might have even deceived yourself. But you aren't using your beguiling charms on me. I have a platinum foil hat!"

"What's that supposed to do?"

"Block out mind control waves."

"What a waste of a precious metal."

"Yes. Yes, it is. But we have reserves all throughout the Foundation."

I mean, it is made of 68% platinum…and 20% iridium, 15% iron, 0.4% cobalt, 0.1% copper, 16.5% trace metals and 1.5% anomalous substances, some of which may be extradimensional.

"You look like a conspiracy theorist!"

"Kid, look at where you're at. Nothing really exists here. Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold!"

"You know, my friend's friend told me that in the future, people called "moon truthers" believe that the moon is a hologram made by the government."

"Well, that's just completely retarded. Everyone knows the moon is made from cheese."

"Even I'm not that dense to believe in that."

"Well, flat earthers exist. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

Sigurrós sighs at the stupid. Dr Clef breaks their tangent.

"Well SCP-239. This has been a pleasant chat but now onto the reason I'm here. Your power is unstable."

"It is?"

"Remember the Kópavogur Incident?"

"No."

"I didn't think you did. A hospital blew up there in the year 2000, killing all 584 people inside."

"Oh, I heard that the cause was a geothermal explosion in the boiler room."

"Pfft, you believe what the government tells you? **We **sent that cover story to the Icelandic government to throw off the UNGOC. No, there was only one who survived the blast."

"Who was it? Maybe they know the truth!"

"I don't know. You tell me."

"Wait, are you saying that…"

"You killed them. You killed them all. Even your parents. It sickens me to even look at you. All 584 of those Icelanders you killed, their blood is on your hands. You were responsible for the energy burst that killed everyone."

"N…n…no…it…"

Dr Clef cuts her off.

"We've assessed your ability. You can create _**anything **_your little heart covets. You filthy sinner. You know what that means?"

Sigurrós is still reeling from the past revelation. Dr Clef shows no mercy to her.

"_**Everything that you've ever known is a lie."**_

Dr Clef leaves her to process this bombshell.

"All according to plan."

Poor Sigurrós. All she wants is to be accepted, but in this cynical world not even this simple pleasure can be afforded to her. Has everything really been all for naught?! Was it all truly a lie?!

"No…Dr Cleft is lying to me…He's trying to get under my skin!"

"He's absolutely right, big sis."

Sigurrós turns around to see an avatar. An amorphous shadowlike copy stares her down. It speaks to her.

"I am a shadow, the true self! I invite you all to drown in my world's despair!"

* * *

**ACT IV: Absent Reality**

"I am matter... I am antimatter... I can see your past... I can see your future...I am your flesh…I am your soul…I am despair incarnate…I am victory without a cause…I am Sigur!"

A depressive remix of I Face Myself from Persona 4 begins blaring!

Two gun-like evokers fall at the combatant's feet.

"I can see your major arcana. A person with as much turmoil as us can only have number 16!"

Sigur's words are true. Sigurrós' arcana is the tower reversed, while Sigur has the normal variant of the card.

Sigurrós tries attacking the shadow, but fails. Sigur' counterattacks!

"PERSONA!"

Sigur shoots itself to summon its patron goddess, Syn. How fitting that it picked the goddess of refusal. But…

The battle ended because Sigurrós took 9999 damage somehow.

"I guess I win this one, big sis. We'll see each other again. Ragnarök is coming."

Sigur re-fuses itself with Sigurrós. It seems that she just can't catch a break. Not only is Dr Clef trying to kill her again, but now her shadow self has the capacity to prove him justified in killing her! How can she deal with this?!

* * *

Dr Gears comes by for his daily checkup and sees how his star pupil is doing.

"Hey, 239. How are you doing?"

"I don't know. I can't tell what's real anymore!"

Dr Gears is concerned about this. He knows about Sigurrós' anomaly and how unstable it is.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't tell if my friends are real! I could be Jedi mind tricking them all along!"

"No, I believe that your friendships are genuine."

"Dr Cleft told me about my anomaly. I don't know if I'm subconsciously influencing them or not!"

"Clef, I should have known. But even Alto knows how unpredictable your anomaly is. He wouldn't be crazy enough to risk it."

"He's a UNGOC agent! He should have at least tried to kill me, but he didn't! Wha…what's going on?"

"I will make sure the O5 Council is notified of Alto's actions, Sigurrós. Just don't think about it too much."

"But, it's not just Cleft. Sigur also wants to hurt me!"

"Who is Sigur?"

"My shadow. All of my negative emotions manifested into a humanoid form. It is an evil version of me that exist to cause chaos."

"So, it looks like you?"

"No, it can look like anything. It is a shapeshifter."

"Oh dear…"

"Not only that, it can get hurt by anything!"

"Wait, that seems like a good thing."

"You'd think so, but I think that since he's a part of me, if it dies, I die too! And unlike me, who can only be hurt by SCP-148, it can get killed easily."

Dr Gears ponders this.

"I'm so scared…"

"No, I understand. I'll notify the MTF's about this. Although, capturing a shapeshifter may be tough…"

"Hey, Dr Gears? Are we friends?"

"Of course not. I'm only forced to interact with you because I'm assigned to you. I'm only interested in your anomaly for science!"

Dr Gears leaves.

"Oh…"

* * *

Well, maybe Iris is still friends with her, she's friends with everyone! Sigurrós finds her at the cafeteria.

"Iris, are we still friends?"

"Of course, we are! We can do whatever you want to do!"

"But I want to do what you want to do today!"

"No really, it's no problem for me. I want to make you happy, Sigurrós."

"Iris, I really think we should do what you want to do."

"Why would I do that, when I can be a surrogate big sister to this awesome little girl right here?"

This is all the proof Sigurrós needs. SCP-105 has been brainwashed by her anomaly into liking her! Sigurrós wants _**genuine friends **_and not **mindless drones catering to her every whim**. The obliteration of the self to serve another. No, Sigurrós is no despot! She refuses to accept this as the truth. Maybe SCP-187 would be a better friend. Even though they don't interact much, both of them are friends with SCP-105, so there may be a small chance. She finds her in the library.

* * *

"SCP-187!"

SCP-187 stops reading a comic to look at Sigurrós.

"Oh, you're SCP-239. Iris has told me about you."

"Say what are you reading?"

"Oh, it's a manga called "My Hero". This artist is going to be world famous someday."

"Really? When?"

"July 7, 2014."

"But it's 2008…"

"My anomaly lets me see the future, albeit in a broken way."

"Who is it?"

"The artist? I believe it's Kohei Horikoshi. He's going to make a super popular superhero manga! I've only seen the first two volumes and I already love it! It can't come soon enough!"

"Amazing! So, 187…do you consider us as friends?"

"No, I consider us acquaintances. But maybe we could hang out sometime."

Sigurrós leaves, confused as to whether or not that was a sincere offer or if she's being cool and aloof. SCP-187 seems to be a master of mixed messages. It's uncommon that you have to deal with a real life kuudere. Anime tropes are often confusing and unrealistic.

* * *

This is the true motive of Dr Clef's chat with her! Planting a spore of doubt and letting the fungus spread its mycelium of loathing, despair and a crippling sense of self-worth. And because of Sigurrós' anomaly making anything she imagines come true, it sets off a self-fulfilling downward spiral. That clever bastard! Giving her enough rope to hang herself. How evil, but completely necessary to for the continued preservation of Earth.

There is one that can snap her out of the spiral. The one being seemingly immune to reality warping effects.

She needs to find Epon.

But of course, Dr Clef knew she'd try and find someone that can resist reality warping. And since there are only two people in existence currently known to resist reality warping effects, he had added extra security to SCP-166's containment cell.

"Get lost kid!"

"I need to see her!"

"We have orders to protect her from you. Now leave before we shoot you on sight!"

* * *

The guards are outfitted with weapons and armor made from SCP-148. Sigurrós realizes the futility of trying to reach her and gives up. Back at her cell. She begins to succumb to her despair and Sigur reemerges to torture her again. This time, it takes the form of an aberration between SCP-106 and Dr Clef. Its face is even scrambled like the real Dr Clef. The room expands to look like SCP-106's cell, 40 ferrovanadium curtains, a stadium floodlight system, and 16 bubbles of liquid moving in a pseudorandom array suspended in midair in an EM field. The security cameras near 239's cell have been destroyed as Sigurrós accepts her fate.

"You deserve this."

The shadow begins whaling on her, its hands and feet forming into malleable forms of SCP-148. All forms of self-preservation and pain tolerance are gone, as Sigurrós "disabled" them. She also disabled her vocal cords so no one can hear her scream. Why would anyone, let alone members of the SCP Foundation give a damn about _anyone _here, let alone her?! She should do everyone a favor and just die already!

"Let us burn in hell together!"

Sigur turns itself into a molten slush of telekill, washing over her and covering her in the slag. Everything that Sigurrós had interacted with returned to normal. The only remnants of her existence are a music box and hardened blob of SCP-148. The rose she gave Dr Gears now has black streaks running down it, and we only know this because he had tested out a prototype of the Scranton Reality Anchor on it.

"Sigurrós, I managed too put in a good word with the O5's. They're considering reclassifying you as Euclid…"

All Dr Gears saw was a hardened mass of 148 in her former cell.

* * *

**ACT V: Innocence Lost**

"Well, Dr Clef. We had plans for her and you had to louse that up."

"I assure you, O4. What I did was for the greater good. 239's ability is too unstable for the Foundation to use."

"Be that as it may, Alto. The Ethics Committee has decided that your actions are unethical."

"How? I neutralized a powerful reality warper!"

"The board fails to see how pushing a child to suicide is justified, even if she does possess reality warping abilities."

"Both of us decided that your punishment is to intern under Dr Roget for "anomaly sensitivity training" so that you can deliberate what counts as "too far" as determined by them."

"Just as well, you'll help keep SCP-001 ROGET functioning properly. You're on keter duty for a year!"

"The Ethics Committee hopes you'll learn from this! This isn't the first time you've "gone rogue". You've almost tied Dr Kondraki for most disciplinary actions received by us. Congratulations."

Dr Clef leaves angrily.

"He's right. 239 is too unstable."

"Still, psychological manipulation of a child seems to be a line not even the Ethics Committee will cross."

"They're just afraid it would backfire."

"Ben was right. She would have made a great asset to Omega-12."

"That may be true, but 239 hasn't shown any signs of disobedience until her talk with Dr Clef."

"Dr Gears sent us his report on how they dealt with 106 and her role in the neutralization of SCP-718, both of which are Keter class."

"Yes, but 239 herself is also Keter class."

"Dr Gears recommended we reclassify her as Euclid."

"We may have been inclined to accept his proposal."

"The Ethics Committee must not let this happen again."

"From this day, the Guardian Angel Project has been implemented."

"Overseer Sisson's plan may still have potential…"

The council deliberates on whether or not Sigurrós' suicide is a great loss to the Foundation. We cut back to Dr Clef, still miffed he got punished for helping save Earth yet again!

* * *

"Damn Ethics Committee! What do those braindead idiots know? Don't they understand how powerful 239 was?! I did the world a favor by goading her into killing herself! Its better than the alternative."

Yes, because in that alternate universe, Incident 239-B/Clef-Kondraki happened. Although, the Alto Clef in that universe was a complete idiot, broadcasting his plan over the Foundation's sitewide intercom. Of course, the 239 in that universe would have heard that! He also tried to physically destroy her in that one.

"The council is a bunch of bleeding-hearts. They care about anomalies so much? The should join the Serpent's Hand! Heck Gears' own daughter did! Can't believe some shitty J-pop song influenced them…"

"Well, Alto. We wish we could say that we wouldn't be seeing you here again. But that would be a lie."

"You know why you're here."

"Dr Gears has informed us that SCP-239 has neutralized herself."

"Really, well that's great news! Saves me the effort of neutralizing her myself. If only all Type-Greens were like her."

"We fail to see what's so good about it."

"Reality benders way too dangerous to reliably use! The only reason we tolerate old Ben is because is in a different reality than ours most of the time."

"How dare you insult one of the highest-ranking members of our foundation that isn't in the O5 Council! And one of our founders, too!"

"He recovered a hardened mass of SCP-148 in her cell. It's because you convinced her that we'd be better off with her dead, right?"

"Paraphrased, yes."

"Yes, and all remember when you made THC laced food and spiked the punch bowl with psilocybin to show new recruits the effects that reality warpers have on the environment."

"Yeah, that was crazy…"

"He also recovered a music box in there. There's a song recorded on it."

O10 plays the music. A salvato of notes emanates across the room.

Any time, I can imagine a day when I'm friends with you  
Every thought, and I can make any of our desires true  
When reality starts to get muddled  
Just persevere, head onward; nothing will break our friendship apart  
In this compendium of fractured canons  
What can I do to convince them of my fealty?  
What can I do to prove my loyalty?

I wonder how the gears will interlock today  
All cogs in a machine, but I never mind anyways  
I'm content just helping others  
Why can't I craft a happy ending for us all?  
Oh, right because this is the SCP Foundation  
I'm just waiting until my termination

Is my power a curse, blessing or just an anomaly?  
Will my death make everyone happy?  
All of my emotions, violently swarming  
Downer, bittersweet, or ultimately heartwarming?  
Is all of this some machination  
or is it my delusional fascination?  
Feeling unstable, just want them genuine  
It seems no matter what, I can't win

The flashback ends as he heads toward overseer Sisson's room.

* * *

"One winter, a farmer found a viper frozen and numb with cold, and out of pity picked it up and placed it in his bosom. The viper was no sooner revived by the warmth than it turned upon its benefactor and inflicted a fatal bite upon him; and as the poor man lay dying, he cried, "I have only got what I deserved, for taking compassion on so villainous a creature."

"Is that your reason for tormenting her?"

"She's a Keter class anomaly, Ben. It was only a matter of time before she stabbed us in the back!"

"We at the Foundation could use people like her."

"Stop with your asinine Omega-12 delusions! It will backfire once they turn turncoat on us! Is everyone in this goddamn facility going soft?!"

"No, because there are Euclid class threats more dangerous than their Keter counterparts. This is why the threat levels were implemented because some people were confusing the locked box test for their threat levels. Heck, I've heard that 096 is still scheduled for termination!"

"Maybe people are just stupid?"

"No, just unaware."

"A wolf and lamb once chanced to meet  
Beside a stream, whose waters sweet  
Brought various kinds of beasts together,  
When dry and sultry was the weather;  
Now though the wolf came there to drink,  
Of eating he began to think,  
As soon as near the lamb he came,  
And straight resolved to kill the same;  
Yet thought it better to begin  
With threatening words and angry mien.

"And so," said he to him below,  
"How dare you stir the water so?  
Making the cool refreshing flood  
As brown as beer, and thick as mud."

"Sir," said the lamb, "that cannot be,  
The water flows from you to me;  
So, 'tis impossible, I think,  
That what I do can spoil your drink."

"I say it does, you saucy puss:  
How dare you contradict me thus?  
But more than this, you idle clack,  
You railed at me behind my back  
Two years ago, I have been told;"  
"How so? I'm not a twelvemonth old,"  
The lamb replied; "so I suspect  
Your honour is not quite correct."

"If not, your mother it must be,  
And that is all the same to me,"  
Rejoined the wolf—who waited not,  
But killed and ate him on the spot.

Some, like the wolf, adopt the plan  
To make a quarrel if they can;  
But none with you can hold dispute  
If you're determined to be mute;  
For sure this proverb must be true,  
That every quarrel must have two."

"So, what?"

"Every tyrant will always have a pretext for his tyranny."

"You're forgetting one major thing. 239 is a super powerful reality warper."

"Who was nothing but helpful to us until you provoked her!"

"It was a preemptive strike! I merely struck the first blow!"

"The metanarrative had this all planned. Even using my power to alter it, would it still be the same story? No, it will not be. All of the events were predestined to happen in this timeline and nothing could alter its course. I've learned to accept that. When in my hubris, I had attempted to gift a piece of my power to someone. It backfired tremendously, gaining consciousness and trying to kill me. It should still be somewhere over the Atlantic. Even now, it won't rejoin me. That experiment was SCP-3812."

"Are you ok, Ben?"

"No, it's just me rambling. Either way, just accept what happened. We can't change it, even if we wanted to."

* * *

Dr Clef leaves him, intending to force everything back to the status quo! While overseer Sisson won't help him. There is one who might. Old Benjamin here let it slip that this chronicle being viewed right now is in fact one of these "metanarratives" he was talking about. At Site-180, there is a metanarrative altering SCP. SCP-2786, the archetype. It usually alters the story to save people, but maybe he could alter _**this **_story to make it so that he'd be allowed to neutralize SCP-239 without incident. Or, better yet, make a reality where she was never even born! Yes, this is an amazing plan! Dr Clef prepares to head to Site-180 and meet 2786 but is stopped when has hazy recollections of what is assumed to be his past.

Greece  
Date: [DATA EXPUNGED]  
ETI: [DATA EXPUNGED]

We see a young Alto Clef, playing in a Grecian forest. He wanders into an alcove deep in the woods. It was there where Alto met her. This creature with hooves for feet and starlight in her eyes. These creatures were only foretold in myths of legend, yet here is a mythological creature right before his very eyes. It is an astral faun. The goat-human hybrid approaches him and they begin talking. The memory begins fading into static as it is replaced with another one.

Unknown Location  
Date: [DATA EXPUNGED]  
ETI: [DATA EXPUNGED]

"Well, I see that Alto is progressing nicely."

"Yes, he'll make a fine counterterrorism soldier for the UN."

"He's such a proficient combatant that we make him into a member of our paranormal unit!"

"I thought that was rendered defunct after the Roswell Incident."

"With the emergence of more paranormal entities, humanity must be prepared to defend itself."

Another memory…

Unknown Location  
Date: [DATA EXPUNGED]  
ETI: [DATA EXPUNGED]

"Look Alto, don't you think humanity deserves happiness, too?"

"Yes."

"I've managed to gather ingredients to reset the world."

"What?!"

"Don't be too worried, it will only go back 10,000 years."

"We'd all cease to exist!"

"I won't, I can change my age to whatever I please."

"What about us?"

"Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good."

And another one…

Cornwall, England  
Date: Circa 1990s  
ETI: 4:36 GMT

"KTE-9927-Black has been tracked to England. You brave souls are the only ones who can stop her."

The PHYSIC team descends into the county. They have a lot of ground to cover…

"Alright, you guys secure the cities. I'll head into forested areas and see if she's hiding out there."

The agent begins scouring the areas where 9927-Black could be. He wasn't able to stop her before, he can't let her plans succeed! Lest humanity reverts back to the ice age!

He eventually finds her in a clearing of a forest, surrounded by cultists! He's easily able to liquify them without much trouble.

"Don't do this…"

"I've made my choice."

She completes one of the rituals, incinerating the town of North Access!

"Try me."

"Fine, it seems you won't listen to reason anymore."

An intense battle ensues, but the memory has been severely degraded, so we don't know exactly how the battle unfolded. All that we hear is a gunshot and the sound of crying.

Dr Clef is brought back to reality. There's something he has to do. Heading toward a containment chamber, he somehow manages to convince the guards to let him in. Approaching the entity, he begins to speak.

"We need to talk."


End file.
